Seriously Funny

What is amazing about this cartoon by John Bogenschutz is that nobody ever thought of this before!  What a great idea!  Life no doubt has its dangers and for many of us we are afraid to step out and follow God's leading, but He has promised the Holy Spirit to us.  The protection of the Holy Spirit does not necessarily mean that we will never face troubles in this life.  One look at the Apostle Paul and you can clearly see that his life was anything but "safe."  However, knowing that God is with us and that the Holy Spirit lives within us allows us to live lives in reckless abandon and supreme obedience knowing that we have something much better than a bodyguard.  We have a spirit guard!

Seriously Funny

Christmas is just around the corner and we are excited to begin practicing for our special Christmas services on the weekend of December 20th and 21st.  I heard today that retailers are giving big discounts for the Christmas season, so I hope you will be ready for Christmas early this year, or if like some of my neighbors, you are ready for Christmas year round, all that's left is to plug in the string of lights permanently nailed to your roof!

Planting Churches Cross Culturally

I have been reading a book for my Master's work in church planting that I want to reccomend to all those who are planting churches.  Cross cultural church planting is in fact a reality for most church plants taking place in the US today.  Not only does David Hesselgrave give pratical insights, but the book os choc full of charts and forms that can be used to organize your new church.

Some take-aways....

1. Seven Steps ... Go where people are, preach the gospel, gain converts, gather them into churches, instruct them in the faith, choose leaders, and commend believers to the grace of God.

2. It is evident in scripture that God is interested in numerical growth, and one of the best measures of qualitative growth is numerical increase.

3. We need fellowship with, and the approval of, other humans.

4. Belongingness
     - Humans are social beings
     - God created a new society for the redeemed
     - In belonging to a church new believers have identity
     - Identification with the group, however, does not destroy individuality

5. True worship is prompted by disclosure of the secrets of the heart, detection of the presence of the Lord, and realization of accountability to God.

Vomiting

The 2008 election has reminded us of a valuable lesson.  Politics is sickening!  Last night President-elect Obama won the election by making no apologies for being the most liberal person in Washington.  In the end, the "Maverick" middle of the road guy lost.  As a pastor and conservative, I was never a fan of John McCain, and though Palin sweetened the ticket, I still felt she was the orange syrup they put in really bad medicine.  The defeat for the Republican party was in fact a victory for conservatives.  My fear when Bush left leading and started following, and his numbers fell, was that the Republican party would leave their moral conservative base in exchange for what has become known as "Fiscal Conservativism."  (I would rather lose an election than a political party.) The thought was that Christians care more about their pocketbooks than they do their Bible.  What is amazing to me is that in a year when Republicans lost heavily, the FL Marriage Amendment overwhelmingly won with 62% of the vote.  This is clear.  When you water things down and serve luke-warm ideas, people are not inspired, people don't campaign, people don't vote.  What we can learn as believers is that we cannot win the battle for souls by compromise.  Luke warm never works.  Look how Jesus states it in Revelation 3... " ¹⁵“I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. ¹⁶So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth. "


So the day after the election, I pray that Republican Party will be vomiting.  Now is the time for all of us to turn to Christ, and follow Him without compromise.

Trunk or Treat

Last night we held our third Trunk or Treat event at the Four Corners Elementary School.  In short, it was the best event ever done by our church.  By the numbers we had 30 cars, 82 volunteers, plus 343 guests, and about 25,000 pieces of candy.  Though I took my camera, I did not take any pictures, but we have several capable photographers and Clark Kent was even spotted taking a few snapshots.  So many have asked who won the decorating contest, and for once I am glad I was not the judge.  So many of you went beyond the call of duty and really decked out the cars.  We will announce the winners in all three weekend services and award the big gaudy trophy in the world  to the person with the winning costume.  Please pray for those who were introduced to the church through the event and for those who received the gospel tracts.  It is our hope that this would be more than just a great evening, but the beginning of some life changing decisions.  Thanks again to all those who volunteered, and to all those who came out to participate!

Seriously Funny

One of the hardest things for us to realize as a church was to be content with the way that God has made us.  This Sunday we will be looking at how to have Joy in the face of Poverty from Philippians 4.  The lesson here is the same as in John Bogenschutz's cartoon.  God does not make mistakes!

Partisanship is Key to Leadership

After we were married and before we had kids, Amy and I went out one Friday night.  Our plan was to try out this place we had never been, but when we got there it was obviously not what we thought so we both turned to each other for direction.  What followed was a series of "I don't care, you decide-s"   and "No you can choose-s" that eventually led to our biggest fight as a married couple.  I don't know what or if I even ate that night as we returned home.  Looking back, we laugh today at how silly that was.

My point is that not having an opinion means that you go nowhere, and from there, things deteriorate.  One of the things I hate about politics is that it is a scramble to appear centrist.  Candidates who represent far reaching ideologies put on the pretense that they are moderate, middle class types.  Frankly,  I get sick of the charade.

As a leader, I must realize that Cornerstone is counting on me to make decisions.  The organization needs partisanship.  Not everyone is going to agree with every one of my decisions as a pastor, but if my goal is to make everyone happy, then we will go nowhere, and eventually fight.  What is more, is that God has placed our church in this community to make a difference.  This task cannot be done while sitting on the sidelines waiting for "clear direction."

Imagine it's 4th and goal.  There are 6 seconds on the clock and the team is down by 5.  You have one play that will decide the outcome of the game.  Do you run or pass?  Frankly I don't know any better than you.  But you can't wait until you know for sure.  You must be partisan, pick one over the other and run that play with all you strength.  If you get in, you win, if you don't you lose.  But here is the kicker.  If you wait until you know which one will work, the clock will run out and neither one gets you in the endzone.

This week it is my prayer that everyone at Cornerstone will study the candidates, know the issues and cast your vote on Tuesday.  Politics aside, I believe in voting morality.  I will always base my vote on morality first, politics second.  I have already filled out my sample ballot.  On that are candidates of at least three different political parties.  Why should you vote morality?  Because  God, when honored, can make even the worst political decisions look brilliant.

Words of advice....
1. Liars can buy TV time too.  Know the issues.  Amendment 2 will not undo the domestic partner laws already on the books in the state of FL.  Vote yes on 2 to protect the distinction of marriage.

2. Judges are "non-partisan" so they don't show up on many voter guides.  you have to do some research to see who appointed them, and where they have sided on partisan issues.  I personally came to the place where I am voting to not keep any of the judges on my ballot.

BIG Money

Last night at our prayer meeting I found out that there is a group of ladies who are specifically praying for God to give us 9 million dollars for the next stage of ministry here in Four Corners.   I was amazed at the specificity of the prayer and its simplicity.    I remember the days of the $25,000 pyramid, and Wheel of Fortune's cry of "Big Money Big Money!"   One's idea of big money I guess changes with time and now I can clearly see God blessing our church with $9,000,000 and not blinking an eye.  As I was driving earlier this morning I began thinking about the faith of those ladies, and pondered where and more specifically how God will answer that prayer.  I truly believe that money does not grow on trees, but that God uses people to finance His work in our community.

What is amazing is that while we were not watching, God has already begun to answer that prayer.  to date, God's people have given almost $950,000 to this community through Cornerstone Baptist Church.  By January, that number will top 1 million dollars of ministry invested into this community!  I think that is stinkin awesome!!!  It is amazing to just pause and reflect on the goodness of God, and the faithfulness of His people.  Meeting in rented facilities, it may appear to some that Cornerstone is some minor player in church world, but if the last 6 years are any indication, the people of Cornerstone believe in giving of themselves for not only changing our community, but the world.  By the way,  every investor will tell you, the first million is the most difficult.  May we all stay faithful in our giving and in the use of those funds for the effective spread of the gospel around the world.

Seriously Funny

Again John Bogenschutz makes a great point about how easy it can be for people to misunderstand and misapply His commands.  Thankfully, God has given us His Word.  The Bible not only provides us with many great examples, but it also lays out a clear set of commands that we can follow.    Mark Twain rightly said "it is not the parts of the Bible that I don't understand that scare me,  it is the parts of the Bible I do understand that does."  There may be much of the Bible that we struggle to understand, but in the end, it is very clear and when we begin by faith to follow what we do know, God reveals the difficult passages to us as well.  

Matt Staver Interview - Part One

One of my pastor friends, Greg Peters from Parkview Baptist Church in Palm Coast Recently interviewed Matt Staver, the author of Amendment 2, to show in his church. I hope you find this informative.